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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266527">The Road to The Fountain of Resurrection</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ'>Snelly_ESQ</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hunted [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>RWBY</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Language, non-grphic depictions of sex work</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-20</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 13:43:06</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>10</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>15,195</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29266527</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snelly_ESQ/pseuds/Snelly_ESQ</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Jaune Arc has narrowly escaped bounty hunters, but he finds himself as a stranger in a strange land, surrounded by the cold, windy, sun baked landscape of southern Vale. He meets a man who wants to take him to a place that could make them both powerful...but can he make it? And what about his friends? Can he ever get in touch with them again?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Hunted [2]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/2149248</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. The First Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This is part of the Hunted series. it's recommended that you read 'Rendezvous' first, if you haven't already done so.</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Sometimes isolation can be shared.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-Ken Grimwood, ‘Replay’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>When Jaune reached day 3 on the ferry, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knew </span>
  </em>
  <span>it wouldn’t be easy finding the others. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He knew they were going to Vytal Island. That was...sort of in his direction. He knew he’d at least be getting to Vale, which was a sort of start. But he wasn’t sure where Porla, the end point of the journey, even </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span>. All the clerk had told him after he escaped was ‘south central Vale’. A far way from Vytal, indeed. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He knew they were close, at least. He overheard the news in the mess hall, but was too tired and broken down to even pay good attention. He heard...something about officers, and a gap. And an impending </span>
  <em>
    <span>war</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He knew about that one, all too well. He kept himself busy by scrolling through old photos. He’d had that same scroll for a while now, huh? And he had some older pictures on it from his last one. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He saw one of Pyrrha. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He smiled a little. It was of her, on the street somewhere. She was dressed casually, wearing a red shirt, and some joggers. She looked cute in it. She looked...comfortable. Jaune smiled a bit, and put away his scroll. He saw something come up. An ad. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“If you have any information on these individuals, please alert authorities immediately.” He looked up. All of the pictures but weiss. Seems like they got her. He shouldn’t have listened. He shouldn’t have run when she told him to, he should have stayed at the rendezvous point, he should have-</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He should have done a lot. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>For now he just pulled a hood over himself and prayed no one spotted him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The waves got less rough. The weather cleared up a bit. It was early November. </span>
  <em>
    <span>That all went down on Ruby’s birthday, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thought. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poor kid.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She was separated from a lot of her friends, on the way to make guns for some pirates, who Jaune could only assume were the ‘reinforcements’ she wanted to take on Salem. He shivered a bit. It was a bit cold. Seems the wind here was stronger than it had been up there. They appeared to be getting near a beach of sand, that just...kept going. Sand all the way inland. A small town, but just...dust and sand. A desert, which faded into a chaparral of low shrubs, and short grasses. This didn't look anything like it was close to Vytal. he tried to think back to geography class....the one little factoid he remembered was that if the landscape looked like this on the continent, then you were probably- <br/></span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Oh. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He was </span>
  <em>
    <span>far </span>
  </em>
  <span>from Vytal Island. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
  <span>Jaune got what little he had; his sword, his shield, and his scroll and wallet. He just walked off the boat. They seemed to be asking questions at the gate onto the dock. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You there!” Someone pointed at him. “C’mere.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune walked over. “Hmm?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Got a name?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...Ralph.” He said. “Ralph Smith.” He just used the first things that came to mind. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright, Mr. Smith. Are you educated?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I went to huntsman school.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Are you a foreigner?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...why?” He asked. “I don’t need a passport to get into this part of Vale, do I?” He added. “It’s a safe port for refugees.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I see.” The man nodded. “Well, you just avoided the draft, son. Consider yerself lucky. Welcome to Porla.” The man stamped Jaune’s ticket, and sent him on his way. He wasn’t intent on keeping up the fake name; it was just to get through customs. As he looked around, he got a good idea of what this place would be like. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>A dump</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The place was cold. Mostly form wind. With no trees for miles and endless cloud cover there was no natural source of heat. He had a bit of money left, but not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole </span>
  </em>
  <span>lot. He walked into a shop. Some sort of general goods store, with a wooden facade and a few windows showcasing goods to passers by. Inside it, a man with a mustache, vest, and fine shirt with sleeve protectors stood behind the counter. “Mornin’, sir.” He said. “You look like yer in need of some kit.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I just need a jacket and stuff.” Jaune said. “I’m passing through.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I see.” He nodded. “Well, you’ll find everything y’need here, son.” Jaune looked around, and found a gray duster jacket. It was thick. He could afford it. He also found a thick blanket that he could afford, as well as a small pack to latch it to. He even found a wide brimmed hat. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Looks like y’just got here.” The clerk said. “My brother runs the gun store if you’ll be needin’ protection.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Haven’t got money for a gun.” He said. “Just the essentials.” He said. He tried on a smile. It seemed to work well enough, as the clerk smiled back, ringing him up. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Where’re y’from, son?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m from north of here. I was born up in Jonesburg.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I see.” The man took tags from off his purchases, and took his money, getting his change to him. “Come down here to make your fortune off of the platinum mine, eh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Platinum?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s a hot ticket item, y’know.” He said. “You got strong arms, you look like a minin’ type.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, no.” He shook his head, and put the duster on, as well as a pair of gloves he’d found last second. “I’m a huntsman.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Ah, a huntsman!” The clerk patted his shoulder. “Not a whole lot in the way of Grimm out here. But there’s a man lookin’ fer a travel partner. Good boy, born in this here town. He could use a fella like you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks, sir.” Jaune smiled. “I appreciate the tip.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Absolutely.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune walked out, and looked around. He saw a few buildings. One of them looked like a saloon. He figured he could just sort of...walk in. He swung the door open, and when he walked in, a few eyes met his. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Boy.” Someone peered at him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You look new.” The man said. “...matter of fact, I seen you.” He stood. “You know you’re worth a million dead or alive, boy?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...Must have someone else in mi-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I know who you are, boy.” The man went for a gun, and he heard a voice shout. “Oi! What’d I tell you about keeping those in here!?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...” the man went to the bar, and slammed his revolver on it. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And don’t go accusin no strangers of crimes!” The barkeep scoffed. “Uncouth of you.” She smiled at Jaune. “I’m sorry, he’s a few in, can I get you something?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just a, uhm…” He blinked a few times. “What is there?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Beer, whisky, wine, water...water’s pretty clean, by the by. We have it brought in, so it’s a bit extra.” She said. “2.50 a glass.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’ll take the water.” He said. He drank a bit. “...they gotta check their guns, huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yep.” She said. “It used to be enforced by the law, but...y’know, with the officer gap and all.” She rolled her eyes. “Yes sir, they think it’s all gonna implode any minute now. Been months since there was a judge in this town…” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Speaking of, what-” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, dear.” The bar keeper shook her head. “Looks like Phil’s tryin’ to spook one of the girls again.” She walked out from behind the counter. “Phil! Don’t you go up those stairs with that mask on, Phil! Those young ladies are talented performers who don’t need </span>
  <em>
    <span>no guff </span>
  </em>
  <span>from you, y’hear?” Jaune looked up, and wanting to stay out of trouble, said nothing and sipped his water. The drunk from earlier was eyeing him up. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Got a problem?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You can’t really be on the hook fer treason.” The man walked up to him. “You don’t look like the treason sort. Too...smiley.” He hiccuped. “I’m sorry about all that fuss.” He said. “Lemme buy you somethin’...LOLA!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The bar keeper came back down the stairs. “What’s it now, Harry?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Git smiley here a Rockwell, on me.” He sputtered. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This early in the morning huh?” Jaune asked. “What’s the occasion?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I drink fer my leg, smiley.” He patted his shoulder. Jaune looked down and noticed the man’s left leg was...stiff looking. “Got crushed in a rock fall in the mines.” He grumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sorry to hear that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“ ‘Salright.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not sure I want...whatever a rockwell is. I’m a bit hungry though.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Y’like bacon?” The man asked. “Git ‘im some bacon. Give me the Rockwell.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Lola got on it, and worked quickly, getting Jaune a rather big plate of bacon and giving the man a drink that smelled like it could knock out a horse. He put money on the bar and went to sit down. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He’s a character, huh?” Jaune asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, Harry? He’s a good man. Troubled, but good...you might wanna sit somewhere for that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hmm?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune looked around. Seemed like it was almost standing room only, with just a couple seats unoccupied. “Always packed this time of day?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure, but they aren’t all drinking. Some come for food, some come for gambling, some come for girls.” She looked up. “I don’t like to brag, but the girls up there?” She winked at Jaune. “Pretty good at their work.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“My…” Jaune thought a moment. “My heart’s elsewhere.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I see.” Lola said. “Well, smiley, if that doesn’t work out, girls up there like the tall ones.” She said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks.” Jaune responded awkwardly. “Hey, I’m curious, do you know how far it is to Vytal Island?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well…” Lola thought. “If I were you, I’d get to walking now. It’s a while until the next settlement, but there’s an airship base from there, it’ll take you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I appreciate it...Lola?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’d be my name.” She said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thank you.” He smiled. “You’ve been a big help.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He took the plate, and looked to sit somewhere. He wasn’t sure he’d be able to get back at this point. Walking? </span>
  <em>
    <span>All the way? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He didn’t know </span>
  <em>
    <span>how </span>
  </em>
  <span>far the next town was, but he sure as hell wasn’t interested in just hoofing it. He found a spot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “This seat taken?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Hmm?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Is this seat taken?” Jaune repeated the question, and looked at the man across from him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Taken by you, friend. Sit down.” He looked at Jaune. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Listen, skip,” the stranger spoke to Jaune, “how’d you like to help me do some traveling?”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. The Kid Called Hoss, and a Sudden Change of Plans</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    The man across from Jaune looked to be about his age, and roughly his height. He had curly brown hair that reached just past his ears, weathered skin with laugh lines, a thin, but not too patchy beard, and dark brown eyes, which sat under thick, round rimmed glasses. He wore a black bolero hat, a beige duster jacket, a black henley shirt, canvas trousers, work boots, and two revolvers, which both looked like they had break actions. He was stocky, and looked like he knew what he was doing, despite his youth. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune had to admit, he wasn’t sure he’d be qualified as a travel partner. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I dunno if I’d be the best fit,” He said, “I just got here. I don’t even own a gun-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The local dealer owes me a favor, I could cash it in for you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>you just wanna recruit a stranger to travel with you to who knows where?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s a stranger but a friend you haven’t met?” The man smiled. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fair point.” Jaune shook the man’s hand. “I’m...Jaune.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just Jaune?” He asked. “Alright, Jaune. I’m Henry Howard Hawkins.” his handshake was firm. “Folks around here call me Hoss.” he sipped the last of his drink, and let out a sigh. “Ahh...so, where from?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m more concerned as to where </span>
  <em>
    <span>to</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Jaune, in his infinite wisdom, realized he hadn’t thought to ask just </span>
  <em>
    <span>where </span>
  </em>
  <span>they were going. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’re going out west. Might have to cross into Vacuo, but if the situation there is half as bad as it is here, we can slip in easy.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’re we going for?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A fountain.” He stood. “I’ll tell you more later, we’ve got to get going if we’re gonna make good headway before sundown.” Jaune got up with him. He waved at a few people. He seemed respected, whoever he was. Not a bold, heroic respect, just a general ‘there’s a good man’ respect. He walked outside. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, Hoss,” Jaune asked, “What is it you do?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m a gunfighter, by trade.” He said. “I solve problems.” He walked towards the gun dealer’s stead. “Not a lot of law enforcement since the judges left, so we improvise.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why’d the judges leave?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Vale’s squeezed on officers.” he said. “Any and all educated men were stuffed into compound caps and given battalions.” He shrugged. “After that, the-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I can see where it goes.” Jaune said. “Yikes...they really think a war is coming, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, they don’t think it </span>
  <em>
    <span>ain’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>coming.” Hoss remarked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I figure...are you sure I can’t just use the sword and stuff?” Jaune asked. “I mean, it’s no revolver, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You can keep it around, but you ought to at least have one fer putting down animals and self defense and all that...that and you can’t sneak a sword into a cell.” He winked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright then.” </span>
  
</p><hr/><p>
  
  <span>Getting to the dealer wasn’t hard. There were 3 horses tied up outside. Hawkins took his hat off when he entered, and so did Jaune. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Afternoon, mister Hawkins.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Afternoon, mister Smith.” Hawkins smiled gently. “Mister Smith, this is a friend of mine, Jaune. You remember how last week I stopped that robbery, don’t’che?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Indeed I do.” Mr. Smith nodded. “I’m assuming you’re here to call in a favor and acquire a piece for mister Jaune here?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure am. I’d appreciate ammunition as well...something in .45, it’s what I’ve got.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Of course.” He presented Jaune with a litany of revolvers and holsters. He had quite a bit of variety, it seemed. He took a while to decide, but eventually went with a wooden handled swing-cylinder piece, with elaborate engraving around the handle and cylinder. He dry fired it a few times. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “This one seems worth it.” Jaune said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I figure you should only need the one-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I insist, Mister Hawkins,” Mr. Smith interrupted, “He ought to have two. It’s only sensible for a friend of yours.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Of course.” Hoss said. “You’re the one covering it.” He shook hands with Mr. Smith, got the extra ammunition he’d need, and helped Jaune with the holster and arrangement. Hoss walked out to the horses outside. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “These yours?” Jaune asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Two of ‘em, yes. I was looking to sell the other, it used to belong to my brother. He left town, but couldn’t bring the horse. I suppose you’d be better off traveling on horseback, wouldn’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune nodded. “Probably.” he got things saddled up. “Say, Hoss…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Hmm?” Hoss looked over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’m going to be completely honest, I...do have somewhere I was trying to get back to.” He said. “It’s northeast of here…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Where?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Vytal Island.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss whistled. “Mighty far from it…” He shrugged. “I suppose I could find someone else, of course.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No.” Jaune said. “I…” He looked down. “Last time I went away to try and be even remotely in charge, it...didn’t go well.” He thought back to living in a barn and losing Oscar. “I guess this is something I have to do.” He said. “To gain a little self respect.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...mighty big speech there, Jaune.” Hoss put his hand on Jaune’s shoulder, and smiled warmly. “But I’ll be glad to help you get that self respect of yours back.”  </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Thanks.” Jaune blinked, and tried a few times to get onto the horse. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let me help you with that really quickly, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, wait...I think I have it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, Jaune, your </span>
  <em>
    <span>right </span>
  </em>
  <span>leg goes into that stirrup.”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
  <span>The two returned to town after a brief riding lesson, and with the hour getting late, they figured it’d be better to hold off until the next day. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Why do you use horses anyway?” Jaune asked. “I mean, you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>there’s faster alternatives.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Ehh, it’s more reliable.” Hoss shrugged. “It’s tough ground out here. A lot of hills, too. I suppose a horse is just an easier companion. That, and there isn’t a whole lot in the way of fuel out here. Mostly just dust.” He got off his horse, and tied it to the post outside of the saloon from earlier. He stretched and yawned, looking up. “Sun’s going down.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It is, yeah.” He looked over. “So what’s this thing you were going to take me to?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Hmm? Oh.” He sat at a table in the saloon, across from Jaune, and leaned in to speak quietly. “Folks around here think I’m mad for lookin’ fer it.” He said. “But there’s an old legend my mama used to tell me when I was growing up.” He continued. “An old fountain.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “A fountain?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “A fountain, made centuries ago...the waters are supposed to be able to resurrect anyone to the state they were in before they died.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...really?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Really.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “And you mean </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaune asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Absolutely anyone you could imagine. So long as you can find a thing they used to own, then you can make it happen.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune still owned one of Pyrrha’s old gloves. He had it on him. He blushed. “...that makes this all a little better then.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Got someone you’d wanna bring back?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...yeah.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    As midnight drew closer and closer, the two of them, after a failed attempt at teaching Jaune a card game, got rooms, and turned in for the night. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    Jaune looked out the window. He thought for a moment about what he was doing. Was this...right? Last time he tried this he lost a kid, got captured, and had to be bailed out by a slightly defective robot. What was going to make this time better? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Revolvers? </span>
  </em>
  <span>He hadn’t even shot the things before. He had no idea what he was getting himself into here. He felt like he was way in over his head, but-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    No. No, that’s not what this is. This was an opportunity for </span>
  <em>
    <span>change, </span>
  </em>
  <span>real, honest change. No more mild mannered, clutzy Jaune Arc, the goof with a heart of gold, the supporting character in </span>
  <em>
    <span>his own </span>
  </em>
  <span>life. He could be something, he could </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>something. He knew that the idea of being a huntsman was out. The world had changed too fast around him for that to even be an applicable trade by the time this was all over. He had to move or get hit. And this was him moving. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Or was it him getting hit? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Obviously, Jaune had a lot of thinking to do. But he got undressed, and wrapped himself in the covers, sighing. He tried to think of something else to get him to sleep. He thought of Pyrrha, and how she would’ve known what to do. He thought about his friends. Everyone...save for Weiss...was probably on Vytal Island right now. Probably at least a little comfortable. He tried to keep his mind off of Weiss. Had he done the right thing by escaping? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He just looked out the window from his bed. He didn’t know. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He just drifted off to sleep. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Second Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    “So tell me more about this fountain.” Jaune spoke, wrapped in his duster and trying to stay balanced on his horse, which was harder than he’d ever imagined it being. Hoss looked over. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What more d’ye wanna know about it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just...what is it? I know it’ll bring someone back to life, but what’s the process? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Where </span>
  </em>
  <span>is it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s simple. Think about ‘em as you want ‘em back, throw the possession in, and drink it.” He said. “My mother always used to tell me stories about it when I was younger.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huh.” Jaune nodded. “And where are we headed?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s in the hills of eastern Vacuo. Just across the border...supposedly. I found a coupl’a books on it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I see.” Jaune shivered a little, and reached into his saddle bag, getting out a scarf. “Who knew it could be so cold?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Heh, it surprises a lot of people.” Hoss said. “No trees to keep out the wind, and no sun today. Lucky us.” He sped up a bit. “Snakes are still an issue out here.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s the matter with snakes?” Jaune asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...they scare me. Especially these here winter rattlers, they scare me the most.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Snakes?” Jaune asked. “You’re a big man who carries big guns and you’re afraid of </span>
  <em>
    <span>snakes?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    
  </em>
  <span>“Skip, if you saw one of these things, you’d know just how scary they get.” He scoffed. “They’ll kill you in one bite.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What about your aura?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aura ain’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothin’ </span>
  </em>
  <span>fer snakes.” He said. “It’s like they can shatter souls or something. Eugh.” He shivered. “No thanks, I need a snake like I need a hole in the head.” He kept riding. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So, jaune, tell me,” Hoss stroked his horses’ mane, and came to a stop, to dismount and refill his feed bag from a big pouch of oats on his saddle. He suggested Jaune do the same with a gesture. “Where’re you from? How’d you really end up out here?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What do you mean?” He asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No one comes to visit for no reason. You don’t just pass through.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, I-” He sighed. “I’m in a bit of trouble up north.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“In Vale?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“In...Atlas.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Heh, you can get in trouble for breathing funny in Atlas, from what I hear. What, did you chew mint gum on a bubble gum day or something?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Haha, yeah," Jaune let off a nervous, but convincing enough laugh to pass. He wasn't dropping the high treason card. “Yeah, something like that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, there’s nothing wrong with coming here to escape that.” Hoss said. “Most of the people around here did.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>‘Around here’ had changed from the town to a vast wilderness, a sort of cold, arid, cloudy chaparral, covered in rolling hills and swaths of brown grass. There were grasses here and there, but a majority of it seemed to be flat, dead, brown nothingness, with large, rock formations towering over the landscape, and very little in the way of signs of life, save for some old roads and wild animals. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The landscape seemed to harbor odd creatures as well. Rodents with bushy tails and long ears, foxes with dark brown fur, beavers in small streams, and of course, according to Hoss at least, dreaded Winter Rattlers. Not that Jaune had even </span>
  <em>
    <span>seen </span>
  </em>
  <span>one yet. A snake in this sort of cold seemed a heinous thought to him. He wasn’t smart, but he wasn’t stupid; he knew the things were cold blooded. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Shh.” Hoss stopped the horses. He peered into the distance. “...stay still.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What’s the matter?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Shh!” Hoss dismounted and removed the feed bags from both horses.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Out from one side, they could hear what sounded like singing. A large group of people headed towards a stream they’d been following for the past couple of miles, and drank from the water. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Why’re we being quiet?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It’s Telsers.” He said “Bunch of religious nuts.” He spoke softly, and stood his horse close enough to Jaune’s that he could lean in without being heard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What’s the matter with them?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “They </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate </span>
  </em>
  <span>outsiders. They’re liable to hurt us if they think we’re here to kill ‘em.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Surely they won’t think </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You dunno how paranoid they are, do you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune shook his head. "We're just passing through." He walked the horse, slowly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>slowly </span>
  </em>
  <span>towards the crowd. Hoss shook his head, but followed him. The crowd all seemed ignorant of them, until-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “INTRUDERS!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    One shouted, and pointed a gun. They didn’t even wait to start shooting. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Aww, c’mon!” Jaune huffed. "Every time I do something..." he spoke to himself. Hoss turned the horse around and sped off, Jaune following close behind. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>told </span>
  </em>
  <span>you!” Hoss turned the horse to run up a hill, and Jaune attempted it with him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well </span>
  <em>
    <span>excuse me </span>
  </em>
  <span>for giving them the benefit of the doubt!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss sighed and took out his revolver. He aimed and shot </span>
  <em>
    <span>right in front</span>
  </em>
  <span> of the feet of a small child. “WE’RE NOT PLAYING WITH YOU!” He shouted. “GO’AN, GIT!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The crowd dissipated, and slowly ran off. Hoss returned to the small path they’d been following. He casually took the shell from his revolver, and replaced it with an unused one from his pouch. He sighed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What was </span>
  <em>
    <span>that? </span>
  </em>
  <span>You couldn’t have just shot in the air?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It’d’ve come down on </span>
  <em>
    <span>something, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaune, gravity is still-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “That was a kid, Hoss.” Jaune looked at him fiercely. “A child. And you were gonna kill-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Easy there, pal.” Hoss shook his head, and waved his hand dismissively. “I wasn’t intent on </span>
  <em>
    <span>killing </span>
  </em>
  <span>anyone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “And how do I know that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Because when I mean to kill something I don’t miss.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I just-...</span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> was your alternative? To shooting one in the head or something? Why not just shoot one of the men holding the guns?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune.” Hoss sighed, and removed his hat, letting it rest on the straps around his neck, “I can tell you’re worried about the kid. That’s good. That’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>noble.</span>
  </em>
  <span> And I need you to know that kid wasn’t in any danger. I wasn’t gonna miss and hit him.” He said. “But they were gonna </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill </span>
  </em>
  <span>us. If I did that to a grown man then they would’ve just kept shooting. We’d be dead, we were outnumbered.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Then why not just-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Whatever you say there’s a reason I didn’t do it.” He said. “Lateral thinking is a good skill. No one died, </span>
  <em>
    <span>no one </span>
  </em>
  <span>got hurt, and we’re all safe.” He smiled. “That’s what’s important. Sometimes the best thing to hit with your bullet is nothing at all.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune thought on that for a moment. He looked down. “...yeah.” He just kept riding. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    The hour grew later, but the sun had managed to peek out of the clouds for a while. They must’ve been at the edge of some sort of front, which wasn’t good. Jaune had always been a bit sensitive to this sort of weather, and the change in pressure at the front meant that his head was </span>
  <em>
    <span>pounding</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He pinched the bridge of his nose. “So where’re we stopping?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “There’s a town just up ahead, and-”</span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>    ‘Sssssssssssssssssssssssssssss’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss stopped dead in his tracks. “....don’t move.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “More religious nuts?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “....winter rattler.” Hoss sounded genuinely nervous. “It...can you see it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune peered down, and saw a big, dark green, angry looking snake. Its eyes were fire red, and it was rattling a long, thin rattle on its tail. It wasn't particularly big, but it looked mean, and even Jaune could tell it meant business. Hoss was frozen in fear. “...I can’t move, Jaune. If I move it’ll think I’m trying to attack it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Easy, I...uhh...I’ll think of something.” Jaune slowly pulled a revolver from the holster, and pulled back the hammer. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I…” Hoss was looking right at it. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>frozen, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Jaune.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’m working on it.” Jaune had never fired a gun like this. He’d never shot </span>
  <em>
    <span>at </span>
  </em>
  <span>anything before. Maybe this would end badly. What if he hit the horse? What if it went way wrong and he hit Hoss? What if he didn’t shoot in time?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune? You there?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Right...right here.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He pointed. He closed his eyes in fear that the piece would blow up in his face, and slowly squeezed the trigger.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    BANG!</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune reeled back when he shot, and his unsteady grip almost lost the revolver, but he didn’t get hurt by anything or feel any pain. He didn’t hear the horse whinny in pain and Hoss didn’t sound like he’d been hurt. He opened his eyes, slowly. “Did...did I get it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No, but it’s gone.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “These things are louder when <em>you're </em>the one shooting them.” Jaune's ears rang a bit.<br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Typically, that’s...how that works.” Hoss sighed. “Thank you, Jaune.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Of course. I figure I needed to shoot a gun sometime, right?” Jaune replaced the spend shell, and put the gun back. He kept riding with Hoss. “So...you really </span>
  <em>
    <span>are </span>
  </em>
  <span>frightened of those things, huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What, snakes?” Hoss nodded. “They’re not fun. Lost a brother to a snake.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Is that who you’re going to try and bring back?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss paused for a moment before he answered. “No, it’s...it’s not.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two of them headed into town, and slowly got settled in. It’d been a long day, and they had what felt like an eternity ahead of them.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. The Bounty Hunter</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    As Jaune and Hoss rode into the town at the end of the day, Jaune rubbed his temples. “Ugh, my head is </span>
  <em>
    <span>killing </span>
  </em>
  <span>me…” He lamented. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Might be the weather. Big storm up north, pulling a front with it.” Hoss replied. “Does that ever happen to you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“All the time, actually.” He said. “I think I get it from my mom.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Got a mom?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Most people have one.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“One you </span>
  <em>
    <span>know, </span>
  </em>
  <span>smartass.” Hoss teased, slowing his horse down to trot through town. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah. Don’t you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...” Hoss didn’t reply. “We should find an inn.” He said. He peered around. “There’s one. Has a saloon next to it, too.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I think the last thing I need right now is alcohol.” Jaune dismounted, and hitched his horse to the post outside of the saloon. Hoss tied his. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Then don’t get any.” He said. “Here, take this.” He handed Jaune some cash. “Just get some grub and water, I’m gonna see if there’s a stable hand around here.” He patted Jaune’s shoulder. “And, uhh...take the hat off when you get in there.” Hoss walked off, leaving Jaune to his own devices. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune wasn’t afraid to order at restaurants. He wasn’t afraid to schedule doctor’s appointments, or get his eye pressure checked by that awful puffer machine. But this was a situation where he was totally unsure of everything he was doing. He didn’t even know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>to ask for.  </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    As Jaune walked into the saloon, a few eyes turned to him, but nothing serious. He walked to the bar, where a man with sleeve protectors and an apron was standing. “Evening, stranger,” He smiled, and leaned on the bar. “What can I get for you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Uhm...just...just some water. If you have it.” Jaune blinked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The barman put a glass of water in front of him. “It’s clean.” He said. “Anything else? Any sort of food?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What sort of food is there?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, we got mostly pork, pretzels, peanuts, things like that.” He said. “Through that door you’ll find more things along the lines of meals.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I might save it for there, then.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Suit yourself.” The barman nodded, and looked behind Jaune. “That, ah...that man with you?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Which one? Tall, beard, glasses?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No, this one’s got no glasses.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune turned around, and his eyes met a man staring at him. Hard. Very hard. Jaune blinked and pointed at himself, mouthing ‘me?’ to the man. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The man nodded. He walked up to him. The man wore a familiar shade of gray on his vest, as well as a bandana in the color. That was the color the bounty hunters wore. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...c’mere.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune approached, slowly, motioning to the gun. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The man didn’t budge. He met Jaune in the middle. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I know who you are, Jaune Arc.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I...I’m sure you’ve got the wrong guy, I have a face that kinda makes me look-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” The man grunted. “If you wanna live, you’ll come with me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...and if I </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>come with you?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’ll kill you, that’s what.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Right.” Jaune weighed his options, as Hoss came back into the room. Hoss immediately stepped over to the two of them, and put himself between them. “Whoa, now,” He spoke, “What’s all the trouble? Why…” Hoss looked at the bounty hunter, “You must be Stormy Sandy Smith, I reckon? Famous outlaw? I apologize, my friend here is-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Your friend here is worth a million to me either way.” The man hissed out the words, trying to keep quiet in the middle of a saloon. To their credit, not many were paying attention. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...a million? Fer what?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “For-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You know what? I don’t quite...care. How about you duel him in the street for it?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Are you nuts?” Jaune asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I agree with the boy here, he’d better just-” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss pushed the bounty hunter away. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>said </span>
  </em>
  <span>you’d </span>
  <em>
    <span>duel </span>
  </em>
  <span>for it. Clear?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...fine.” The bounty hunter smirked. “Not a man in the world that can outdraw me. Tonight. 9. Under the moonlight tower.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...deal.” Jaune shook Stormy’s hand. He blinked and looked at Hoss. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What just happened?”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    The two sat in the inn’s restaurant, eating steaks and toast, and drinking as much water as they could feasibly pack onto themselves, as they were both pretty dehydrated from the long day in the saddle. “So I bought you some time. Nine o’clock is an hour and a half away.” He said. “Gives you a bit of time to digest, get yourself collected, and…” He thought a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>are you getting me into?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Why did you not tell me you’re worth 1 million lien?” He asked. “What’s the point hiding that information? What did you even </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>to get Stormy Sandy Smith, a man who’s got 4 or 5 bounties on his own head, affiliated with a firm of bounty hunters that you’re only </span>
  <em>
    <span>just now </span>
  </em>
  <span>disclosing to me is chasing you?” Hoss seemed frustrated, annoyed, and honestly, a bit afraid. “I’m not gonna abandon you out here because of tht, it’d just be cruel, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I have to kill this man in a gunfight.” Jaune said, sensing the rising anxiety in Hoss’ voice. “Let’s focus on that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss sighed. “...right.” He said. “Can you...can you win a gunfight?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’m gonna have to.” Jaune said. “I shook the man’s hand.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune, with all due respect,” Hoss sipped some water, “I’m not entirely sure that </span>
  <em>
    <span>gunfighting </span>
  </em>
  <span>is something that you want to train on the job for. Maybe we get you a bit more used to that thing.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...what, we’re gonna practice?” Jaune asked, “am I gonna have to shoot cans or something in the dark?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No, but you’re about my height…”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune furrowed a brow. “...we’re gonna cheat?” Jaune, haunted by his past deeds, didn’t ever want to cheat again. He couldn’t possibly go there again, he couldn’t let that be his life, his legacy. He didn’t want that. Not for this. “I don’t cheat. Not anymore.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “He said he’d get into a gunfight. Didn’t say who with.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “He shook </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>hand.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “If I wear your jacket, your hat, and your bandana? And use one of your guns? He won’t know the difference.” Hoss smiled, seeming satisfied with the plan. “You wanna live long or die honorably?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’d rather die honorably, if it were me.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Look.” Hoss leaned in. “You have...you have friends up north you wanna get to, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune looked down at the rest of his food. “I...I suppose. Yeah, I do.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “If you’re gonna see them again, you’re gonna let me do this for you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “How do I know you’ll win?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Because I’m good at my job.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What if you die?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “If I die then you just skip town and head north. But I won’t.” He winked. “Just...trust me.” He stood. “I got us that room, there.” He pointed. “I’m gonna go to the bathroom, find me at 8:30.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Deal.” </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    8:30. Jaune was in the room, and laid out his coat, hat, and bandana, as well as one of his pistols. He sighed and sat on the bed, as Hoss changed. “Are we sure this is right?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What’s not right about it?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It just...doesn’t feel honorable, really.” Jaune said. “It feels like cheating.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Skip,” Hoss rolled his eyes, “You did </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>that made you worth a man’s life earnings and more. I dunno what you’re so hung up about.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I was...framed.” Jaune said. “I didn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>commit a crime, alright? I’m just some huntsman who cheated his way into a now defunct school, lost everything over the course of one day, and learned the hard way I wasn’t ready to even lead an excursion to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>grocery store.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss patted Jaune’s shoulder. “Yer not gonna learn to lead if you aren’t alive.” He said. “This is just me keeping you that way.” He grabbed the pistol, and put it in his left hand holster. He pointed at his duster, hat, and a scarf. “Wear those. Yer coming along.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two walked to the spot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You know this stormy guy?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “He robs banks.” Hoss said. “Before the law left he was quite the hot commodity. He’d bring y’in 20,000 alive, 15,000 dead.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Yeesh.” Jaune walked behind Hoss. The two approached the moonlight tower, which emitted a cold, white light across an area of the town. Seems word got out. People were gathering around to see it happen. Stormy walked in from one side, and Hoss, dressed as Jaune, walked slowly towards him. Jaune watched from the corner. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...those bounty hunters must’ve done good convincing you, robber man.” Hoss said, trying his best to imitate Jaune. It wasn’t a bad imitation. Something was clearly off, but it seemed like Stormy didn’t care. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “They’re lettin’ me keep 750,000. You know how much that is out here?” Stormy scoffed. “...c’mon, now, gonna clear leather?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two stood, solemnly, waiting for one another to pull. The tension was nearly tangible. Jaune watched in fear. What was going to happen? He shivered a bit, his face covered by the scarf. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    It happened in an instant. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    A brief silence, punctuated by a sudden, earth rocking </span>
  <em>
    <span>BANG!</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    Stormy Sandy Smith, aged 33, dropped dead at the hand of Hoss Hawkins. He holstered the pistol, and walked off, wordlessly, as people chattered, cheered, or just went back to bed. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    It was so jarring. Jaune barely had time to process it. He was now on the hook for killing a bounty hunter. Were </span>
  <em>
    <span>all </span>
  </em>
  <span>gunfights that fast? How did you get good at it? How did they know when to draw, </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>they? What was gonna happen now? Was his bounty gonna raise? Was he gonna see time for this? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune sat up in his bed, and looked over at Hoss, sleeping on the faint couch. “What does this mean for me?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, since there’s no judges, and thus, no law enforcement, as that would have to be approved by a judge around these parts,” Hoss spoke matter of factly, “I suppose the justice you’ll face is at the hand of those bounty hunters.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I guess.” Jaune looked out. “I’ll have to learn to shoot.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Yes, you will. We’ll take care of that while we travel tomorrow.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Hey, Hoss,” Jaune looked over, and smiled. “Thank you for doing that.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Hoss smiled right back. “You’d do it for me if you could. And even if you couldn’t, it’s good to be kind.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Sometimes I feel like kind isn’t enough.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What do you mean?” Hoss asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I can’t even fight my own </span>
  <em>
    <span>battles, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hoss. What does it matter if I’m just kind?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Kind is a good thing to be, Jaune.” Hoss said. “Don’t matter whether you contribute or not, what matters is whether or not you’re kind.” He stooped, and headed over to Jaune, leaning on the nightstand. “My mother always taught me that we don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>need </span>
  </em>
  <span>to be contributors to be worth something. You’re worth something because you’re here.” Hoss sat back on the faint couch. “Not try and get some sleep, skip.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Yeah.” He smiled. “You too, Hoss.” </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. The Third Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    Hoss and Jaune rode out of town very early that morning, and stopped for supplies around midday in some other town. After this, and a brief rest for the horses, they kept riding. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How long until it’s desert?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, a while.” Hoss said. “We’re still getting into the flats.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The landscape had changed, from the arid but livable chaparral to a vast, unending flat grass plain, full of tall grass, sparse trees, and rolling hills. The air was littered with buzzards, clouds, and cries of field mice and prairie dogs. Then they saw something. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>A fence. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>It was unremarkable, to Jaune. It was just a fence. A big, long fence, of barbed wire, but a fence, nonetheless. He’d seen a </span>
  <em>
    <span>fence </span>
  </em>
  <span>before, he knew what they were. It was something very common, in fact. Jaune was sure most people in their lives, at some point, would see a fence. It was so unremarkable as to </span>
  <em>
    <span>become </span>
  </em>
  <span>remarkable, if only about its bland nature. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But Hoss seemed angered by it. He even took the time to ride over and spit on it, then get back on the path. He huffed. “Damned ranchers.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Ranchers? </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s the matter with ranchers?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“People used to live out here, Jaune. Before you and me were even born, before people like you and me even got here.” he said. “Ranchers and Vale colluded. Now they’re all pretty far gone.” He said. “Doesn’t help that the ranchers pay the hands just enough to spend it all at the company store and come back on their knees, begging fer more.” he grumbled. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I </span>
  <em>
    <span>hate </span>
  </em>
  <span>ranchers.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune blinked. “That’s the hill you’ll die on?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Uh-huh. And if I see any, this is the hill </span>
  <em>
    <span>they’ll </span>
  </em>
  <span>die on.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Why not do something about it?” Jaune asked. “Why not try and-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And revolt? Every 40 or so years something like that happens, and the ranchers are still here.” he said. He made sure his revolvers were loaded, and that the rifle saddled on his horse was, too. He kept going as the sun began to set. “Be careful. These sorts are awfully territorial.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’ll be on the lookout.” He said. “So your family worked for ranchers or something, huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Yep. It’s a complicated scenario,” He started, “but pop made about 5 Lien a day.” He said. “Legal out here, they’re agriculture. Conveniently? No minimum wage.” He scoffed. “Now that the law’s basically gone, they have a few issues from people like you and me. But they also have more money than some countries.” He said. “So they’re well equipped for it.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I see.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two heard hoof beats. Fast ones, too. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    As they looked back, they saw a few men riding to the edge of the fence. They were in buckskins, with fringe, and seemed pretty serious about whatever it was they were doing. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “That’s close enough, partner.” One said. “This here’s the Thompson Ranch.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Is it?” Hoss huffed. “Looks more like the prairie to me. Jaune, you see a ranch around here?” He asked, facetiously. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I, uhm…” Jaune didn’t quite know how to respond. “Yeah. What else is the fence for?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Your friend here’s smart.” One of the men said. “Now scram.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “We’re not on your side of the fence, dumbass.” Hoss replied. “Go do something worthwhile.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...wait...are you Hoss Hawkins?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I very well may be.” Hoss said. “Who’s asking?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I heard a’you.” the man spoke. “I hear you shoot people fer sport.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Not quite </span>
  <em>
    <span>sport…</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Then what for? Think you’re some kinda lawman?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I think I’m what we’ve got.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Is that so?” The man reached for a gun, but Jaune waved his hands in front of him and rode between the two. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Easy, </span>
  <em>
    <span>easy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Let’s not make this any bigger of a deal than it needs to be, alright?” He said. “We’re just passing through.” Jaune took a sip from his canteen, and spoke as he threaded the cap back onto it. “Not gonna get anywhere if we just...shoot each other, are we?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Suppose not.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You could </span>
  <em>
    <span>learn </span>
  </em>
  <span>from that boy, Hoss.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Why you-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “HOSS.” Jaune barked. “We’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>leaving.”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p>
  <span>    The two of them walked the horses away, the ranchers staying close to them. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>    Later on, the ranchers were still by the fence, taking in the view. They heard more hooves. A few more. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Sounds like 2 more, willy.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Alright, let’s make sure they don’t mean trouble.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two ranchers rode up to the edge of the fence, and stopped the horsemen. The two of the horsemen were decked out in gray, a sort of slate gray that looked unnatural against the landscape. One of them looked like he was from around the area, and dressed the part; the other looked to be wearing gray armor, like something out of Atlas. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What’re you lot doing?” A rancher asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “We’re not here for horses or cattle, stranger,” the one who looked local spoke, “We’re here bounty hunting.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Oh? For who?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Looking for a man named Jaune Arc. He’s wanted for high treason. He’s worth a million dead or alive.” The man pulled out a picture of the blond one from before. “Seen him?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...matter of fact, I saw a boy looked just like that travelin’ that way, must be headed to Barnes.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Thank you kindly. Was he alone?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Nope. He’s with Hoss Hawkins, that low down, good fer nothin’ gunslinger.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Heard of him. We’ll take care of it.” He tossed the ranchers a couple of Lien. “Keep quiet. Never saw us. Hya!” He snapped the reins and galloped away, the other following suit, looking less comfortable on a horse. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...this here’s 500 Lien.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “That kid who split up the fight is worth a million of these.” One shook his head and scoffed. “The hell did that guy do? Spit  his dip out on a Schnee’s boot on accident?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Beat’s me, Willy, I got nothin.” </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>    “...that’s not bad. Try and make it a little less tense.” Hoss said. “Tension is always bad.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    BANG!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune sighed and released his air, as he looked where he’d hit the big cactus. A hole was right where he’d been aiming. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Well, okay, a little high of where he was aiming, but not too bad. The grouping was actually pretty good, even from this far out. He reloaded the revolver, and looked over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “How’s that?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It’s good enough.” Hoss said. “We’re gonna need to pull into town though. It’s getting dark.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The 2 of them trekked to a town called Barnes. Jaune took a turn getting the horses watered and finding a stable, and headed into the town’s inn. A saloon was downstairs. He sat at it, and practically filled himself with water, the cold air having dehydrated him quite harshly. He felt a tap on his shoulder. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “How’s looks fer a drink?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He looked over, and saw a woman, who looked remarkably like…</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Pyrrha?” He mentally slapped himself for that. He shook his head, and stuttered a response. “I mean..I-I...I’m sorry. I just...new someone named-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, if you’re nice, I’ll let you call me that.” She winked. Jaune was red. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I...I’m sorry but my heart lies elsewhere.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Lemme guess,” The woman leaned in, ”Her name’s Pyrrha? And she’d be right mad if she found out you’d been with a-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “She was killed.” He said. “She was...she’s dead. You look like her.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...oh.” The girl nodded softly, and bit her lip in embarrassment. “Whoops. Sorry to, uhh...hear about that.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “It’s not your fault.” He said. He sipped more water. “It’s mine, really.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You killed her?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What? No, I...I just wasn’t there to keep her from getting killed.” He said. “I think about it a lot.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Ah.” She nodded. “Well, champ, I’m sorry to hear about that, but ‘comforting people with recently deceased lovers’ isn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly </span>
  </em>
  <span>in my job description.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Of course.” Jaune said. “I’m not gonna hold you up, you...do whatever it is you need to get done.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Sure thing, sweetie.” She winked and patted his back, as Hoss walked in. Hoss looked over. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Inspecting the women of the night, friend?” Hoss had been a bit more prepared, hydration wise, and got himself a mint julep. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No, she...she looked like my girlfriend.” He said. “My girlfriend died.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Oh.” He nodded. “I, uh...well, that’s unfortunate, Jaune.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “She was killed. I always feel like I could’ve...I dunno, been there, or maybe died in her place, or-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune, I assure you, dying in someone’s place doesn’t make life better for that someone.” He sipped his drink. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I know.” Jaune looked down. “I just...I feel like there’s a million things I could’ve done differently. We were on a team, and I was the leader. And last time I lead a team, I got someone captured, and we all almost froze to death in a barn before being captured and being broken out by-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune, buddy, </span>
  <em>
    <span>relax.” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hoss smiled and shook his head. “No one here’s grading you on your leadership skills. These sound like pretty hairy situations, but most of the time people lived, right?’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I-” He thought about it. Sure, Pyrrha had died. Maybe Oscar, maybe not. But Ren and Nora were still alive, Yang was probably fine, and he’d managed to keep things pretty locked down on this trip so far. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “So you might not be a great leader. Who cares? Being a good man, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>what’s important here.” Hoss smiled. “And you, Jaune, despite the fact that you are apparently worth a million lien for some reason, are a good man.” he patted Jaune’s back. “I got us 14 and 15, rooms here’s dirt cheap.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Thanks.” Jaune smiled warmly and looked around. “I’ll be up in a minute.” </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  <span>    The next day was cold. Cloudy, windy, and frigid, from daybreak to dusk. It was gonna be a cold day in the saddle. Jaune knew this, and stocked up on supplies like water, and jerky in case they got trapped on the trek. Hoss, who still had some money as well, bought extra blankets, and supplies for a fire, stuffing them into his saddle bag. They were going to a particularly remote part of the country tonight. They walked out to the horses, and-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “JAUNE ARC!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Gunfight in Barnes</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“A duel, whether regarded as a ceremony in the cult of honour, or even when reduced in its moral essence to a form of manly sport, demands a perfect singleness of intention, a homicidal austerity of mood.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-Joseph Conrad, ‘The Duel’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Aww, son of a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bitch, </span>
  </em>
  <span>skip.” Hoss turned around and looked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>There were two men, one in gray, and one in that garish armor. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’re here for the blond, Hoss.” One spoke. “He’s-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Wanted for 1 million Lien either way, I heard it before.” Hoss pushed up his glasses. “Yer gonna have to take him dead.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What?” Jaune asked incredulously. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“He’s a hard man.” Hoss said. “Yer gonna have to shoot him and drag him back.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck </span>
  </em>
  <span>are you saying!?” Jaune whispered, hissing out the words. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Prove it, Jaune Arc.” The men put their hands over the holsters. One had a sort of semi auto pistol, and the other just had a revolver. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, what-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This is it; if they take you back and you’re worth a million lien? I don’t think the digs’ll be nice.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune nodded and thought. It was either going to get shot, or go back to Ironwood to be tortured, or worse. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How many of you are there?” Jaune asked.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Dozens. We’re part of a firm.” One of the men shouted back. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, then I suppose they won’t miss you, will they?” Hoss quipped.</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“When we die, they’ll be notified.” He said. “You either come with us, or keep running as long as yer alive, Jaune Arc.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sour grapes, we’ll keep running.” Hoss scoffed. “Good for the heart, running.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune was sweating bullets. “You take the one on the left, he’s got no helmet, I can’t aim like that yet.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Deal.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>And they….stood there. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They stood for what felt like hours. People were gathered to watch it. It was really quite an event. The air was tense. Jaune tried hard to focus, staring his target down. His target had a black goatee, green eyes, and black hair. He was short, and wearing a gray hat, gray jacket, and canvas trousers. He was close enough that Jaune could see his expression, one of calculation and processing. He was working out what was going to happen. Despite the man’s calm demeanor, Jaune could read him like a book; </span>
  <em>
    <span>he was horrified. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Almost as horrified as Jaune. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss drew. Then Jaune. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>BANG! BANG! BANG!</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The man in the armor dropped dead, his body twitching and pulling off a third shot which went way high of Hoss. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune’s target had hardly cleared leather. He was on the ground, writhing. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune had aimed for his heart. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>missed, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and hit his side. He was pouring blood. Jaune didn’t know what to do as the man flailed and gasped, screaming in pain. He screamed </span>
  <em>
    <span>for </span>
  </em>
  <span>someone. Jaune thought he heard the word ‘mom’. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’re you waiting for, end it!”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...what?” Jaune flinched back, seeming to be in and out of consciousness, yet still standing, still aware of the situation. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shoot him! Put him down!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I…” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Jaune, </span>
  </em>
  <span>there’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>saving him.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune walked over, quickly. The man left a trail of blood where he’d crawled. Jaune aimed the gun. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He pulled the trigger. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The crying stopped. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...good work, skip.” Hoss patted his back. “You lived through it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I...I hurt him.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well it was a gun fight, Jaune, that was sort of the end goal.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I wanted to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill </span>
  </em>
  <span>him, Hoss. I hurt him.” He said. “I can’t...I can’t even fire a gun well enough to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill </span>
  </em>
  <span>something.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Easy, it was your first time.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I need to lie down.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>When Hoss found Jaune again, he was in a terrible state, hiding behind a rock. He was sobbing. Hoss thought he saw a pile of vomit nearby. Jaune was curled up in a ball, just...wailing. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I-I...I hurt him, Hoss.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss just hugged him close, and let him cry. “It’s tough to watch that. I’m so sorry. You did what you had to do.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>if I had to!?” Jaune barked. “I could’ve at least made it quick, instead I sat there and watched him die like some sort of...some sort of </span>
  <em>
    <span>freak!</span>
  </em>
  <span> I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You accidentally shot his side, Jaune.” Hoss shook his head. “No one means to wound that badly. You needed to live, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...” Jaune slowly calmed down. He stood, and rubbed his eyes. “We should get going.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We will…” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m sorry, Hoss, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t apologize for nothin’.” Hoss said. “The man knew what he was doing, getting into gunfights. Just remember it can happen to you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’ll keep it in mind…” Jaune chugged water, refilled it at the inn, and they were on their way. </span>
</p>
<hr/><p>
  
  <span>“You’re awful quiet.” Hoss said. “Normally you’re asking questions or something.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s that man I shot.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune, I know you feel bad for leaving him in the state you did. But we all know that if you’re gonna live by it, you can die by it, and sometimes it’s-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That’s...not quite it.” he said. “Was what I did moral?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Shooting him? Well, in your defense, he was going to shoot you, or possibly bring you back to Atlas to be...whatevered with.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Putting him down.” He said. “I just...I know he was in pain, but-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Out here, medicine’s not gonna be able to fix that sort of hole.” Hoss replied. “It was the most moral choice, if you ask me.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It just felt...bad.” Jaune said. “It felt like it was effortless. When you’re hunting Grimm, they put up a pretty hard fight.” He said. “It feels more like a fight than whatever we just did back there.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The sun was beginning to set, and they set up camp, getting a fire started. The fire was necessary; it was </span>
  <em>
    <span>freezing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Gunfighting isn’t fighting grimm. 9 times out of 10 there’s another human being across from you. And you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>both </span>
  </em>
  <span>armed and ready.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I guess I need to be more aware of the fact that it isn’t some sort of lopsided fight, huh?” Jaune sighed. He looked up. “A lot of the training I remember was about escalation.” He said. “About when to use lethal force. All this ‘shoot to kill right away’ stuff is real jarring.” Jaune laid back on a bedroll. “I figure we’re both going into it with that in mind. It’s not like there’s just some unarmed person there.” Jaune realized, at this point, he was trying to rationalize shooting someone and killing them. He knew it was bad. But it would have been bad either way, right? At the end of that situation, someone would have died. Better to be the one alive at the end of the day, for now.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune sighed out, and saw his breath. He could see every star in the sky. “...I don’t like gunfights.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Never said y’had to.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I think I’ll try to avoid them. As long as I can.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Honestly?” Hoss looked over. “That’s not a bad idea.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The two tried their hardest to sleep. Hoss seemed okay, but Jaune wasn’t used to this sort of cold. In Atlas, at least when he’d split from the group, there was a barn, or a canyon, or insulation from the wind. The wind was strong and howling through the desolate, sandy landscape they were in now. Jaune could hardly sleep. His stomach was sick. He wasn’t shivering, but he knew he was cold. And he’d just done probably the most vicious, heinous, vile thing he’d ever done. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He tried hard to sleep through it. He knew the next day would bring them to a town, at least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He slept, and prayed that he'd never have to do something like that again. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. The Hunstman</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“Unable are the loved to die, for love is immortality.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-Emily Dickinson, ‘Unable are the Loved to Die’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You awake?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I didn’t sleep.” Jaune replied, digging himself out of his sleeping bag, his nose and ears cold. Hoss helped him stand, and looked over at the horses. “There’s a stream, we’ll walk ‘em and let ‘em drink.” He said. “Fill the canteens for me, will you?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure thing.” Jaune rubbed sleep from his eyes and tried desperately to at least tell himself he could keep going for today. He grabbed the heavy, metal canteens, and filled them upstream from the horses. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fountain oughta be close.” Hoss said. Jaune had almost forgotten about the thing. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah?” He smiled. “I figure that’ll be nice.” He said. “Who’re you trying to bring back?” He asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Who, me?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’re the one who wanted to go in the first place.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I used to have an older brother named Wes.” Hoss said. “He was a good man, but...he got into a lot of fights. One day it took him.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sorry to hear that.” Jaune said. “But, y’know, what you told me the other day about death...it probably applies here, doesn’t it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It probably does.” Hoss said. He looked out on the dew covered landscape. “How about you? That girlfriend of yours?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Yeah.” He said. “Her name was Pyrrha Nikos. We...we didn’t spend a lot of time together. Right before she died, we kissed.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Damn, skip,” Hoss patted his back, “that’s...pretty tragic.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Could be worse.” Jaune said. “So how long?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, shouldn’t be long now.” Hoss said, opening his book. In it were maps, and notes, scrawled in wildly, with different pencils. You could tell when Hoss was excited as some of the graphite had gone on much thicker. “Maybe...2 days traveling? Which is good time, considering the fact that we’ve been stopping overnight. I’d rather not travel at night though.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not out here. Less snakes at night though, probably.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Nope.” Hoss shivered. “Snakes are more active at night...but they come out a bit during the day.” he shook his head. Speak of the devil…</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They heard a rattle. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Dark green scales, and fire red eyes. The two had attracted a winter rattler. Hoss was wide eyed as he looked at it. “...shit.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Easy, easy.” Jaune said. “You’re fine.” He walked slowly away from it. “We’re all full on water, so let’s just focus on getting to the horses. Quick and calm.” Jaune held Hoss’s arm and dragged him back, calmly, not yanking. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“....it’s staring at me, Jaune.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s just nervous. It’s as scared of you as you are of it, I promise.” Eventually, the snake hissed and slid away through a bush. Hoss let out a heavy sigh. “Thanks.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Of course. Are you sure a fight took Wes?” Jaune asked. “You seem pretty traumatized by those things.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No, Wes died in a fight. I can prove that. But...they just freak me out. Every man has fears.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let’s get to the next town.” He said. “Wherever that is.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s a cattle town. Parks Run Valley.”</span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
  <span>Parks Run Valley was, indeed, a cattle town. Every year, cattle would be brought in from massive drives across the landscape. Nowadays, it was mostly rail and other infrastructure that did that work, but Parks Run Valley, being in such a remote place, still needed drives to come through, if only at maybe a quarter of their old strength. There were ranchers outside of town who would keep their own cattle, year round, as dairy or beef cows. It was convenient, after all, to have your own supply of the things. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>But it did cause problems. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune and Hoss trotted the horses into the town. It was cold, still, but that apparently hadn’t stopped a crowd from gathering out in front of a long ago burned out building. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Nor did it stop them from being violent. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Them cows are </span>
  <em>
    <span>mine!</span>
  </em>
  <span> I say we hang ‘im!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So you think just because you’ve got all the money means you get t’make laws?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I ain’t makin no laws, boy, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune got off his horse and whispered to someone in the crowd. “What’s going on?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“These fellas are having a fight.” The townsperson said. “Seems a gang of cow rustlers got caught, but the town council all fled when the officer draft came around.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Really, now?” Jaune sighed out a heavy, beleaguered sigh. He nodded. “No law men either, I suppose?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Nope. Normally we just try to help each other, but both of them have points.” He said. “We can’t decide.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss looked over. “Jaune, you said you were a huntsman, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune blushed. “I mean, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>was, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but I don’t see how-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huntsman’s a sort of a law man, ain’t it?” Hoss asked. Jaune looked up, and saw guns in the hands of the men who were arguing. He was quick to intervene. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Easy, easy!” He stood between the two of them. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And what’re you, anyway, blondie? Little junior sheriff or somethin’?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m…” He sighed. He thought, after all he’d learned about it here, this would be a stupid thing to say. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m a huntsman.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The crowd all seemed to hush. “A huntsman, eh?” Huntsmen were, in very </span>
  <em>
    <span>rare </span>
  </em>
  <span>cases, lawmen when not deputized. There were all manner of rules and classes, that beacon and Atlas all offered, that trained one for this sort of thing. So he was </span>
  <em>
    <span>technically </span>
  </em>
  <span>a lawman, but less a police officer and more of a ‘community intervention specialist’. He wasn’t allowed to kill or hurt anyone, or he’d lose his license and essentially be fair game. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s the problem here?” Jaune asked, trying to beef himself up and straighten his posture. He made his voice just a bit lower, as well. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This man is stealing my cattle!” An old rancher pointed at a young man with a bandana around his neck. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s a few cattle here and there, anyway?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A few cattle? You stole 2,500 lien worth of steers from me!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well I remember stealin’ more than </span>
  <em>
    <span>one</span>
  </em>
  <span>, jackass!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Pipe down!” Jaune said. “And put the guns away. No one’s getting shot.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No one </span>
  <em>
    <span>else</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” The cow rustler said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...beg pardon?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“This here rancher went and shot half of my gang. While they were just about town, no less.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A man ought to be allowed to defend his goods!” The rancher argued. “And that means preventative action, too, dammit!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay, okay. Walk me through the timeline.” Jaune said. “You stole cattle, </span>
  <em>
    <span>then </span>
  </em>
  <span>he went and shot your gang?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, not all of ‘em. And only one of ‘em lost anything permanent. He’s a terrible shot, really, it’s shameful.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay, then. And why’re you stealing cattle?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’ve got nothing to </span>
  <em>
    <span>eat! </span>
  </em>
  <span>The mine’s been bust for years, the train took most of the drives, we’ve got nothing to do but-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Nothing to do but steal cattle.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “They could at least </span>
  <em>
    <span>consider </span>
  </em>
  <span>the army.” The rancher said. “All my children went off and joined! Now I’ve gotta run the place alone with my wife, and they start stealing cows from me? You’d be upset too, huntsman!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>     Jaune nodded. He thought a moment. And a moment more...and then, he snapped his fingers. “I’ve got it.” He smiled. “Here’s the plan.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “How many years are you putting them away for, huntsman?” The rancher asked. “5? 10? Life? Gonna put ‘em in a cowl and ask ‘em fer last words!?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You’re going to employ them as hands on your ranch.”  </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The rancher’s excited expression turned to one of disbelief. “...what?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You’ve got no workers. They’ve got no jobs. It’s practically a match made in heaven.” Jaune patted their shoulders. “No one else gets hurt, you get money, and you get help around the farm.” He put on a warm, assuring smile. “And </span>
  <em>
    <span>no one </span>
  </em>
  <span>goes to prison, or gets killed, or anything. Deal?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The rancher and the rustler looked at each other. “...I...I </span>
  <em>
    <span>suppose </span>
  </em>
  <span>that’s fine.” The rancher shook the hand of the rustler, and smiled. “You bring your gang around tomorrow.” The rancher handed Jaune...quite a bit of money. More than enough to last weeks. “For yer troubles, huntsman.” The townsfolk let out a rather pleased reaction. They were just glad no one was getting shot. </span>
  
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    As the townsfolk all dissipated, and Hoss and Jaune ate, they got ready for another night on the range, packing in salt pork, water, ammunition, and other things. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You did a good job out there, Jaune.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I figured the last thing that situation needed was gunfighting.” He replied. “I figure there’s a time and a place for it. Not there.” He finished eating. “That was just…” he looked outside. “Hoss, we gotta run.” </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>    Bounty hunters</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The gray and black uniforms made them hard to miss, and they had...badges or something on. Jaune slammed a fistful of money on the table, and ran to the horses, as Hoss did, as well. They booked it out of there as soon as they could. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The bounty hunters stopped in town, and still on horseback, held up a picture fo Jaune for a townsperson to see.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “We’re looking for this man. He’s a huntsman, but he’s guilty of high treason in Atlas.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, I guess I saw him earlier, but he must’ve left town.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Any idea where?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Dunno.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Sir!” Another bounty hunter spoke. “I just spoke with the saloon keeper. They’re headed further west, I think they’re trying to cross the border into Vacuo! </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Damn…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “The horses are too tired, sir. We have to let them rest.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The bounty hunters all got off the horses, found a stable, and walked into the saloon. They’d strike out tonight, and they’d get them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    They’d find him, no matter what.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. The Fourth Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>    Jaune and Hoss just ran. They ran the horses ragged. They ran them so ragged that they had to stop or they’d kill them. They tied them up, and got off, winded from the bumps and changes in terrain. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay, spill.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss wearily set a very small fire. “Spill, skip, what’d you do?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I told you, i was framed for-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“There’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>13 </span>
  </em>
  <span>of them.” Hoss hissed. “What the hell are 13 men chasing you for!? And why are you worth 1 million of </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything!?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...high treason.” Jaune said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss, who’d been drinking, spat out his water. “High </span>
  <b>what!?</b>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I-it’s more complicated than-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You can barely shoot something without flinching, and you committed high treason?” Hoss sat down and shook his head. “What did you even do?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I helped try to steal this thing from...look, it requires a lot of context.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Did you, or did you not, contribute to there being amped up talks of war?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...yes.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Oh, for </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>sake, Jaune.” Hoss took off his glasses, and pinched the bridge of his nose. He took a pan and put it over the fire, putting slices of salt pork in it. “Jaune, you’re telling me you pissed off coppertree or whatever the hell his name is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much </span>
  </em>
  <span>that there’s an entire firm of bounty hunters after you?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I thought I’d lost them! I swear!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And now we’re both…” Hoss blinked. He shook his head. “...you’ve been sent to test my patience, I can tell.” He breathed in deep, and exhaled slowly. “...when we get to the fountain, tomorrow probably, here’s what we’ll do.”He explained. “We’re gonna get that liquid and distribute it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...distribute it?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“For free, Jaune, for free. And you’re gonna have such a good reputation that the whole of this side of the province will stand with you if they come.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, that’s not-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune Arc you let someone do something kind for you or I’ll come over there and </span>
  <em>
    <span>beat your million lien ass.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Hoss snarled. “I don’t care either way for Atlas, but for the love of all things holy, you have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>tell </span>
  </em>
  <span>me things.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Alright.” Jaune sighed. “I’m sorry I never told you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s alright.” Hoss whistled. “Just a bit jarring’s all.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“So is becoming a cowboy in the matter of a day.” Jaune sat next to the small fire. “Any larger than this and we’ll get caught.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We might get caught regardless.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“How far from the fountain?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Actually, since we passed through Nure, probably not long.” Hoss said. He laid back and ate a bit of the bacon he’d made. Jaune looked out. “...Hoss?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huh?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The dwindling sun behind them left enough light to make the source of the hoof beats visible. 13 horsemen. They all had guns. And they all wore gray and black uniforms with badges. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...what’s the plan?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They’ll let you go, Hoss.” Jaune said. “Go to the fountain?”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune, no offense but if they get their hands on you you’re-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I’m gonna have to face the consequences of my actions?” Jaune stood up. “I’m grown, Hoss, I can deal with that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“No one’s saying you’re shirking responsibility for wanting to escape the law, Jaune, that’s not how responsibility works in the real world.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, I’m not sinking your dream with my escape. I’ve ruined enough. I got Pyrrha killed, I got Oscar lost, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune.” Hoss put his hand on Juane’s shoulder. “None of that matters. You’re my friend.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune just stared at the men as they got closer. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune arc!” One shouted. “...you’re wanted for high treason in the Kingdom of Atlas! You’d better come with us.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“....Let me grab something.” Jaune said. He went to his pack, nestled behind a stray boulder. He looked over at Hoss, and winked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune let a few shots fly from behind the boulder, hitting one of the horses and a bounty hunter in the leg. Hoss grabbed the rifle from his horse, and took a few shots as well, dispatching two bounty hunters. That left 11. As they scattered, having spooked their horses, the bounty hunters ran in all manner of directions. Hoss and Jaune left a few things behind, but rushed off west towards the fountain. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>As they kept going, Hoss worked to try and reload while moving. He shouted over to Jaune. “Are they following us!?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune gulped. “Looks like some of them caught up!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss took potshots behind him, nailing one and catching the other’s horse. Jaune just ran. He wasn’t taking many shots. They found a place to stop, having lost them. “They’re gonna come over that hill any moment,” Hoss said, “Get ready to do damage.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Can do.” Jaune got loaded up. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You gonna be alright?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“They’re shooting at me.” Jaune said. “They knew what they signed up for, right?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Attaboy, Jaune.” Hoss waited. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They waited for what felt like decades, but what turned out to be only a minute. The sun was almost under the horizon, allowing only a sliver of light to work with. Jaune found one. He aimed. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The man went down. Jaune shivered, and flinched for a moment. He still felt that pang of guilt. He felt like it should’ve been </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>than that. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He had to think quickly, another showed up. He dispatched him quickly. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss was having good luck, too, bagging 4 more. The sun went down. There were only two bounty hunters left, as one clutched his arm. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“We’ll find you, Jaune Arc! I’ll chase you till the ends of Remnant! You’re mine!” The hunter shouted into the darkness. Jaune and Hoss rode forward a few miles, and found a place to sleep. Jaune sat up. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...you alright, Jaune?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“That was...a lot.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It all happened so fast, I-” Jaune rubbed his eyes. “I had to. They’d’ve killed me.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“As long as you’re feeling okay about that.” Hoss said. He sipped water from his canteen. “I saw what killing one did to you.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It...it wasn’t the killing.” he said. “I guess it was the nature of it.” He looked at the night sky. “I killed those bounty hunters because I would have been killed if I didn’t. I felt like killing him, even challenging him to a gunfight, was just...something on a whim.” He dug deeper into his sleeping bag. “I suppose it just felt frivolous. He hadn’t even beaten me to the draw. These guys at least shot back.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I understand.” Hoss said. “If you need to talk about it, you let me know. But not right now.” he said. “I...I need to sleep.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Me too.” Jaune yawned. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Goodnight.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Night, Hoss.” </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  
  <span>The next morning, Hoss woke up, early, and stretched, He looked in his little book, filled with notes and maps and clippings from storybooks. He was almost there. He woke up Jaune with a smile on his face. “Get up, Skip, we’re not far.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure thing.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The two groggily got ready, and headed off into the morning. Soon, the desert began to fade into that familiar chaparral landscape of low shrubs, big swaths of dead grass, and even some smaller critters. Evidence of life before became apparent, painted onto rocks and scrawled onto surfaces. Jaune looked around. “Do you think, whoever was here, meant for us to use the fountain?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Maybe. Maybe not.” Hoss said. Hoss looked in the book. “We’ll find out.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune began to worry, as he saw Hoss’s demeanor grow more and more giddy with each step of his horse. “Hoss? Can I ask you something?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Huh?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What if we get there and it’s not there?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Has t’be </span>
  <em>
    <span>somewhere, </span>
  </em>
  <span>then.” He said. “I swear it exists.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“But what if it isn’t...</span>
  <em>
    <span>there? </span>
  </em>
  <span>And what if it doesn’t exist? Surely, if someone had found it, they’d’ve kept a pretty reliable record.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well…” Hoss nodded. “Want me to be honest?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Sure.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I have always, </span>
  <em>
    <span>always </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted to see the fountain. I figure that seeing it would be the best pleasure in my life.” He said. “But...even if it’s not there, or it isn’t real, I won’t mind it not being there. Has this cost money? Sure, but I can make more of that.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What about time? It’ll all be wasted time.” Jaune asked. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Not wasted, just spent disproving something’s existence rather than proving it.” He smiled over at Jaune. “One good thing about chasing something, is even if you don’t get to have it, you still have the feeling of it, the idea of it.” he said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Is that really enough?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Well, if you love something that much, it becomes enough.” He responded. “I can wish it were there, in front of me, but even if it’s not, the </span>
  <em>
    <span>time </span>
  </em>
  <span>I pushed into it is tangible.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The heard hoof beats. Jaune looked behind them. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hunters. They seem distracted.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...full speed ahead?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“With pleasure.” Jaune whipped the reins of his horse, and Hoss followed. Jaune and Hoss confidently rode deeper in, getting further and further and further. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>They stopped for a moment. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Fountain is only about 5 miles that way!” Hoss pointed. “If we can out run them long enough, we can reach it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Let’s get going, then!” Jaune said, before Hoss got off of the horse to stretch for a moment. And then…</span>
</p><p>
  
  <em>
    <span>“SSSSSsssssssssssssssss…”</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. The Winter Rattler</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“While riding in the darkness, alone, he did shout, </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>He did his best to head the steers, and turn the herd about.</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>His saddle horse did stumble, and on him he did fall,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>No he won’t see his mother when the work’s all done this fall.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>When the Work’s All Done This Fall, traditional cowboy song</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Easy. We’re close. Just don’t panic.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“It’s a big one, Jaune.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The winter rattler was </span>
  <em>
    <span>right by his foot</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It was massive, curled up in a coil and rattling away loudly, hissing as well. Its red eyes were fixed on Hoss. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What’s the bite from them like?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Deadly.” Hoss said. “It’ll kill someone pretty quick.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay…” Jaune sighed, and pulled out his gun. “I’m gonna try and scare it o-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“A shot will just alert the hunters.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, it’s necessary, it’ll kill you.”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“And they’ll kill </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Hoss said. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, please, just-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune, what do we do?” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Just….stay calm.” He said. “I’ll think of something…” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Okay.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>And so, trapped there by a snake, Jaune waited while he thought. He had the gun aimed perfectly at it, but a shot would be dangerous. He could trot the horse a bit, but that would put the horse at risk, and there was no way in </span>
  <em>
    <span>hell </span>
  </em>
  <span>he was gonna walk back. He sighed as he thought. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“...I’m gonna shoot it.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“The hunters’ll-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“I don’t care about the hunters.” Jaune said. He aimed, and-</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“NO!” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>The rattler’s teeth sank into hoss’ leg. It rushed off. Hoss fell to the ground, and grunted. “SHIT!” He cried in pain, tears filling his eyes. Jaune moved to him. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“HOSS!” He cradled him in his arms. He hugged Hoss as tight as he could. “Hoss, I’m so sorry, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Don’t go to the fountain.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“What!? You </span>
  <em>
    <span>died </span>
  </em>
  <span>for-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“You wanted...Vytal Island.” he said. “Your friends are there, go see them.” He said. “J-just bury me out here.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss was shaking and starting to twitch and convulse. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Hoss, I can’t do that, you’re my friend.” Jaune said. Hoss looked him in the eye. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Friends listen to one another. Go...go to Vytal island.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune huffed. “Hoss, I’m so fucking sorry, I-”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Jaune Arc, you’re a good man, and a good friend.” Hoss said. “You did nothing wrong…”</span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune just looked as life started to drain from his eyes. “Hoss, I’m sorry about this.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>“Apologize by living.” Hoss said, trembling, and sweating. “Apologize by doing good things.” </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Hoss stopped moving. His pulse had gotten so high that Jaune could </span>
  <em>
    <span>feel </span>
  </em>
  <span>his heartbeat. It had climbed, and climbed, and climbed.  And then….it sort of just stopped. And Hoss went limp. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>Jaune was familiar enough with death. He knew that bodies didn’t look graceful. He was completely limp, and his face reflected that in its glassed over, truly neutral look. Hoss didn’t bring many tools for burial. Jaune didn’t have anything, but Hoss had brought along an entrenching tool. He took his book and placed it in his hands, and moved Hoss to a place behind a rock. Jaune grabbed the trenching tool from Hoss’ horse, and dug for a while. He managed, after a few hours, to put him in a shallow, narrow grave. He wrote on the rock with chalk he’d brought for mapping out fire pits. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Henry Howard Hawkins</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Friend”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>    Jaune did go a bit further west. He didn’t find much of anything. He used what he could, taking the supplies from Hoss’ horse, as much as he could, and letting the horse run free. He rubbed the last of his tears from his eyes. He’d cried all through burying him, all through the whole process. Every time he tried </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    But...in a way, that wasn’t what was important, was it? </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He helped him get pretty far. He solved a lot of problems that could’ve gotten out of hand. He couldn’t have saved him, it was a snake and they were out of options. He couldn’t have saved Oscar, that thing was </span>
  <em>
    <span>huge. </span>
  </em>
  <span>And he couldn’t have saved Pyrrha. He wasn’t good enough to do that, not at the time. He probably would’ve just died in her place. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    But that didn’t matter, either. Hoss trusted him, and he paid him back with death. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    But he also paid him back with friendship. He paid him back with helping him find this thing that even </span>
  <em>
    <span>he </span>
  </em>
  <span>admitted was probably not real. He paid him back by burying him. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune thought back to something he’d heard from Hoss. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>    You’re a good man. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune just...headed east. There was nowhere else to go. Near the close of day, at twilight, he saw them. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The bounty hunters. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    There were two left. Seems that third one either succumbed to his injuries or ran off. They were watering their horses in what looked like the last stream for tens of miles. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...looking for someone?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune hopped off his horse. He looked as the two seemed to eye him with confusion. He’d just...fallen into their laps. It was odd, to say the least. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Where’s yer friend?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Dead.” He said. “A rattler bit him.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Aww, isn’t that a shame?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    One man went for his gun. The other did as well. Jaune aimed his, and they stood there, 2 guns aimed at him, and 1 gun each aiming at the hunters. He didn’t seem as concerned as before. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...come with us, Jaune. We know you’re soft. We know you won’t.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Not wanting to kill people doesn’t make me soft.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “You either die here or die in a cell in Atlas. Make yer choice now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...is neither an option?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    BANG! BANG!</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune beat them to the shot. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    They both went down, dead before they hit the ground. Jaune just...broke down. He fell to his knees, and looked up at the sky. He didn’t bother getting to his bedroll. He didn’t bother stopping for the night. He just looked at the two bodies. He still had the shovel. The ground was softer here. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    It became too cold. His body wouldn’t make it through unless he got sleep. </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    The next morning, he got to the first town with a train station he could find, Parks Run Valley. He still had some money left from there. He used some to get a train ticket. Furthest he could get without them asking any questions was back to where he began in Porla. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    The ride was long, but more comfortable than a horse. He looked out the window as the land rolled by, seeing the odd familiar shrub or cactus, and looking around as the world sped by quicker and quicker. He just couldn’t fathom what’d happened to him. He knew he wanted to make it northeast. Vytal Island. That’s what he wanted to see next. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He got off in Porla. He entered the bar. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Smiley!” Seems the bar keeper here, Lola, had heard that name for him. It’d stuck. “Where’s Hoss?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Got bit by a snake.” he said. “He died.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Oh, dear...I’m sorry to hear it...are you trying to make it to that silly fountain, still?” She asked. “He’d bring it up, that he was going. He seemed so eager to find someone to go.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “No.” Jaune said. “I need to get to Vytal Island.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, there’s a ferry up the coast and inland. That’s the best I can do, sweetpea.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Thanks.” He put some money on the table. “I just want water.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He sipped as much water as he could, before heading down to the ferry dock. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Which one goes furthest north on the continent?” He asked. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “That’d be the one to Jonesburg, it’s leaving right now.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Still got a ticket open?” He used the same bribe trick he’d used back at the rendezvous point, and it felt just as dirty. The man nodded, handed him the phoney boarding pass, and shuffled onto the ferry, the cold sea air at least presenting a nice change from the arid, dry nothingness that’d consumed his life since then. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jonesburg. </span>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>    Home. </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    He wouldn’t stay long. His parents probably wouldn’t be too happy to see him like this. ‘Hey son, who I expected to be a heroic huntsman, how’s life as a gunslinger who hates slinging guns and who’s got a giant, million lien target painted on his back?’ </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He didn’t think that’d go over well. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>He finally got to his cabin. They’d be there in the morning, as they had to go up the river to get there. He tried to rest his head. </span>
</p><p>
  
  <span>For the first time in a few nights, he slept in a bed. It wasn’t the most restful sleep, but it was fulfilling. </span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. The Final Step</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>“All life includes loss...but that doesn’t mean we have to turn away from the world, or stop striving for the best that we can do and be. We owe that much to ourselves, at least, and we deserve whatever measure of good may come from it.”</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>-Ken Grimwood, ‘Replay’</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune woke up and groggily shuffled off of the boat. He had his sword in a scabbard on his back, just to carry for traveling. His shield was draped there, too. He also had his revolvers, still, and plenty of ammunition for them, as he walked off of the boat. He felt his face. He hadn’t shaved in...a while. He didn’t have a mirror to look into. He figured, though, it was probably pretty patchy, or thin. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    He walked off, and looked around the familiar town. He smiled a little to himself. He was</span>
  <em>
    <span> home. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Granted, he wasn’t staying. He walked into town, and didn’t seem to get many looks. He kept the collar of his duster up high, partially to keep out wind, and partially because he could better hide his face that way. He walked a bit further, taking in old sites. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I dunno a Jaune, sorry.” Jaune said it as a reflex. He turned around, and saw-</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...I’d know my own </span>
  <em>
    <span>son.” </span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <span>    His mother was there. She had bags of groceries. She was dressed for the weather; a cold snap had struck pretty hard. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...do...you want help with those?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    She put the bags on the sidewalk, and walked to him. “Jaune…” She just hugged him close, as tight as she physically could. She held him tight, and sighed. “H-how long are you in town?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I wasn’t planning on staying long.” He hugged her back. “I’m sort of on the lam right now.” He said, moving away and putting his hands on her shoulder. “I’ve had...a time.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I can tell! You’re coming home with me, young man. We’re at least catching up a little bit.” </span>
</p><hr/><p>
  <span>    “...and </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>how I got indicted for high treason.” Jaune shoved the last limoncello cookie into his mouth before taking a sip of water. It was food that wasn’t salted meat. He was all for it. The two had stayed up until nightfall catching up. Jaune was bad at saying goodbye, it always took him ages.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Sweetie...y-you said you wanted to go to Shoalmouth? That old port town? What for?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well, Ruby says she has a plan for us to defeat Salem. But I need to go up there.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...Jaune, you’re aware that the place is apparently </span>
  <em>
    <span>crawling </span>
  </em>
  <span>with pirates? That and if you end up there, you’ll end up a dock worker or something.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What’s the matter with dock work? It’s a good profession.” He said. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Jaune, you know your father and I wanted-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Mom, I love you.” Jaune said. “But I think ‘doing what you wanted’ flew out the window a while ago.” He added, opening another box of limoncello cookies. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “About what your father and I want…” His mother put her hand on his. “We wanted you to be a huntsman, like Rolf’s father, and his father before him, and so on…” She gripped his hand. “But when you left and just...never came back?” She gripped tighter. “We just-” She started to choke up, “We wanted our son back.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Mom…” He hugged her tightly, patting her back. “I’ll be back.” He said. “I promise you </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’ll be back.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I know you will. We want you back however you are, we just miss you.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “If I come back in shoes, I’ll stay in town. And if I come back in an urn…” He started that sentence as if coming back in an urn wasn’t even possible, but paused as its likelihood dawned on him. His mother pointed to the mantlepiece. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “If you come back in an urn, Jaune, you’ll stay right there.” She said. “You’ll stay right there, and never leave.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    Jaune nodded. “Thanks, mom.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Of course...don’t wait up for your father. He’s away on business. He won’t be back for a whi-”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    A knock came on the door. Jaune got up, but his mother pressed his shoulder. “Sweetie, I’ll get it.” She went over to the door. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Hello?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    It was another woman from that fugitive list. Red hair, green eyes, kind of tall...she looked very </span>
  <em>
    <span>excited, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and seemed to have some sort of jet black ship with her. “Hello, Misses Arc! I was wondering if you’d seen your son anywhere? I’m a friend of his, but we were separated, and he’s one of two still missing.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...Jaune! Your friend is here for you!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Who?” Jaune looked up. His eyes went wide. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “...Penny, what the hell are you doing here?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Picking you up and taking you to Shoalmouth! I figured the best place to look would be your home.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Well...you kinda lucked out. I just got here. What happened to the others?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I’ll fill you in on the way there, but the gist of the situation is good. Ruby, Yang, Blake, Ren, and Nora are all waiting for us!” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “What about Weiss?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “We’re unsure of her whereabouts.” <br/></span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “That’s...too bad.” He said. He hugged his mother, kissed her cheek, bid her goodbye, and got onto the ship. He smiled and hugged Penny. “I’m so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>glad to see you, Penny…” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “I am glad to see you, as well.” She blinked. “You look very different. Have you not shaved?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Not for a while.” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “And why do you look like you’re from the Valar west?” </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    “Long story.” He looked out the window, and saw the world going by. Whatever this was for him, it was close to the end of an era; whatever happened up there would apparently decide the fate of the world. </span>
</p><p>
  <span>    But for now, he tried to get some rest.</span>
</p>
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